My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

Su Qing never imagined that Xiao Ran would find out all of this tonight, here, and in this way.

She hadn't even had time to figure out how to say it, how to say "you are the Jiang family's long-lost daughter" in the least hurtful way.

But what she didn't expect was that Xiao Ran would secretly follow her here, stand outside that door that wasn't closed properly, and listen to the truths that she shouldn't have to endure tonight, word by word.

Yin Wan's gaze passed over Su Qing's shoulder and landed on the figure in a black hoodie at the door.

Without any introduction or confirmation, she knew that this girl was the same child from back then.

But Jiang Ran didn't look at her, not even once.

She walked straight up to Su Qing, reached out, and grabbed Su Qing's wrist.

Despite their delicate appearance, their hands possessed astonishing strength, their five fingers gripping Su Qing's slender wrist, their knuckles turning white, their nails almost digging into her skin through her sleeve.

Su Qing could clearly feel the dull pain in her wrist, but at this moment, she was more concerned about Jiang Ran's condition than the pain itself.

The system frantically popped up alarms in her mind, with red warning windows lighting up one after another. Jiang Ran's heart rate had exceeded 130 beats per minute.

Cortisol levels rise sharply, the sympathetic nervous system is in a state of extreme activation, and those previously suppressed traumatic memories are being reactivated: being dragged from one end of the corridor to the other by staff at the welfare home, being pushed to a corner of the balcony by adoptive parents and having the door locked, and being told more than once that "nobody wants you".

Every alarm window was telling Su Qing the same thing: what kind of pain was Xiao Ran, who was standing in front of her, going through? Her body had already returned to the state of a little mushroom huddled in the corner of the balcony seven years ago, before her reason could even react.

"Xiao Ran, I'm not going to abandon you. Please listen to me..." Su Qing suppressed her panic and spoke in a very soft and gentle voice, as if she were coaxing a child who had just woken up from a nightmare.

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But Jiang Ran wouldn't listen.

Only one voice kept echoing in her mind, over and over again, growing louder and louder...

My sister doesn't want me anymore...

My sister doesn't want me anymore...

My sister doesn't want me anymore...

My sister said she deserves better...

Her older sister wanted to see her off...

She grabbed Su Qing's wrist and pulled her outside, the force so strong that Su Qing stumbled a step before she could keep up.

As they passed the foot of the hospital bed, Yin Wan propped herself up on the mattress, trying to get up. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Jiang Ran turned her head and glanced at her.

That gaze froze Yin Wan in place. There was no anger, no hatred, only a pure, undisguised rejection.

Yin Wan swallowed back all the words she wanted to say in that one look. She needed help even to get up, let alone chase after him.

Looking at the empty doorway, the pale light from the corridor seeped in through the door frame, swallowing up the long, thin shadow cast on the floor.

Yin Wan slowly leaned back onto the pillow, folding her withered hands back onto the blanket, the last bit of struggle in her eyes slowly fading away.

She had already told Su Qing everything she could; there was only one last thing left.

She remembered Wu Yue standing at the door with his back to her, saying, "Let's talk about it after this period is over." She remembered the moment her palm suddenly felt empty when he pulled his hand away. He wouldn't say it; she knew he wouldn't say it.

But if she could end all of this, if she could let that child return to her real home, if she could completely free A-Yue from this wrong path she had walked for over a decade... then that would probably be the only thing she could repay for all of this...

Jiang Ran pulled Su Qing through the hospital corridor, through the elevator lobby, and through the waiting area on the first floor where most of the lights were off.

She walked very fast, so fast that Su Qing almost tripped over her shoelaces several times, but she never turned around or said a word.

She dared not turn around, dared not look at her sister's face, because she knew that if she looked at her even once, she would soften her heart, would stop, and would hear her sister repeat those words in that gentle but cruel tone.

My sister came to the hospital, not because she was sick, but because she had found her elusive biological parents.

Her sister carried her on her back, secretly searching for her in the dead of night, without mentioning a single word to her.

Does your sister really want to send her away...?

She knew her sister was doing it for her own good; she understood better than anyone that everything her sister did was for her benefit.

But for the past seven years, she has been working hard every day to become better and more outstanding, so that she doesn't need her sister to worry about her anymore. It's not so that she can find a better partner one day, but so that she can stay by her sister's side forever.

She never imagined she would be sent away; she never considered that option in her life.

Her sister couldn't leave her, and she couldn't leave her sister.

Su Qing was held by the wrist and followed silently behind her, without struggling or offering any explanation.

She looked at Jiang Ran's stubborn and stiff back, at her knuckles that were slightly white from exertion, at her taut shoulders that looked like glass that could shatter at any moment, and the light in her eyes dimmed a little.

She knew what those words Xiao Ran had heard tonight meant to her, and she knew what terrible thoughts were swirling in Xiao Ran's mind right now.

But she couldn't banish those thoughts from her mind at that moment, because what she was about to do was exactly what Xiao Ran feared most.

When the taxi stopped downstairs, Jiang Ran got out first, but her hand still didn't loosen its grip on Su Qing's wrist.

There were only the two of them in the elevator going upstairs. The stark white fluorescent light shone on the mirrored wall, reflecting two silent figures.

Jiang Ran's fingers were still wrapped around Su Qing's wrist, still gripping it tightly, as if she was afraid that if she let go, the person beside her would disappear the moment the elevator doors opened.

She returned home, to the place she considered the warmest place to be with her sister.

The entryway light came on, its warm yellow glow illuminating the two pairs of rabbit slippers lined up side by side on the shoe cabinet, the potted green ivy on the coffee table, the frying pan Su Qing had washed clean in the kitchen, and all the traces of the seven years they had lived together in the house.

But at this moment, none of these warm things seemed to be able to warm Jiang Ran's heart, which was trembling violently.

She stopped at the door, finally loosened her grip on Su Qing's wrist, then squatted down, as she always did every evening, untied Su Qing's shoelaces, took out the pair of rabbit slippers from the shoe cabinet, and neatly placed them beside Su Qing's feet.

Her movements were light and steady, no different from usual, but her voice was trembling, as if a thread had been forcibly pulled from the depths of her throat: "Sister, we're going home... I'll help you change your shoes."

Su Qing looked at her hands, which were pretending to be normal but couldn't hide their trembling, and at the constant alarms from the system in her mind. She felt as if her heart was being cut again and again with a dull knife.

She wanted to squat down and hug her, to tell her that she knew she was wrong, that she shouldn't have kept it from her, and that she would never say such things again.

But it felt like something was blocking her throat, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Ran put her slippers away, looked up, and reached out to take Su Qing's hand.

Her fingers suddenly stopped the moment they touched Su Qing's wrist.

She saw it.

On her sister's fair and slender wrist, a ring of bluish-purple bruises was slowly emerging, standing out starkly against her almost translucent white skin.

The bruise was the same size as her finger.

She looked down at the hand that had been gripping her sister's wrist the whole time. Her fingertips still felt slightly numb. It was with this hand, with so much force, that she had left this scar on her sister's body.

Su Qing saw her staring at the bruise on her wrist, motionless. Just as she was about to say something, she felt warm liquid dripping onto the back of her hand.

She was stunned.

Jiang Ran knelt on the tiled floor of the entryway, large tears rolling down her cheeks—tears that she almost never cried in front of her sister—dripping onto Su Qing's fingers, onto the purplish bruises, and onto the cold tiled floor.

"I'm sorry, sister... does it hurt a lot... I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I shouldn't have... how could I..." Her voice was torn apart by sobs, every word trembling as if she was using all her strength to squeeze them out of her throat.

Her fingers traced the bruise on Su Qing's wrist very lightly, her nails carefully avoiding the bluish-purple color, as if afraid that touching it any further would cause her sister more pain.

She looked up at Su Qing, her eyes, usually so gentle and obedient in Su Qing's presence, now brimming with tears. Tears streamed down her cheeks and into her mouth, making her look exactly like the child who had clutched a steamed bun in the hospital years ago, too afraid to cry out. "Please, sister, don't go, don't leave me, don't abandon me... I know I was wrong, I'll never do it again... Please... please..."

Su Qing looked at Xiao Ran's usually calm and composed face, now covered with tears. Her eyes, which were usually sharp and aloof in front of outsiders, were now red and almost bleeding. Seeing her crying like she had returned to the small figure huddled in the corner of the balcony seven years ago, Su Qing couldn't say a word.

She reached out and pulled Jiang Ran into her arms, holding her tightly.

One hand pressed hard on Jiang Ran's back, while the other hand supported the back of her neck, making her bury her face in the crook of her neck. She could feel Jiang Ran trembling violently in her arms, could feel hot tears streaming down her collar and into her neck, and could feel those trembling hands gripping the fabric of her back tightly, as if trying to mash her whole body into her bones.

"Sister won't leave," Su Qing's voice finally cracked, but she still tried her best to make every word reach Jiang Ran's ears steadily, "Sister won't leave you, Xiao Ran, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

She could only continue this lie, she could only tell herself over and over that she wouldn't leave, even though she knew she couldn't stay with her for long.